With the increased demand for smaller, lower cost, and high performing semiconductor devices, there is an increased demand for smaller and thinner integrated circuits. To achieve these smaller integrated circuits, thin semiconductor substrates or wafers may be used in integrated circuit manufacturing processes.
At various points in the processing of wafers into integrated circuits, the wafers are secured in substrate containers. These substrate containers may support the wafers horizontally, at the underside of the wafers, and at their outer periphery. However, as the wafers become thinner, they tend to increasingly sag when located in such substrate containers due to gravity effects on the increasingly thin structure of the wafers. This sag increases the difficulty of supporting the wafers in the substrate containers and consequently increases the risk of damage to the wafers during processing. Furthermore, the additional sag of the wafers may create interoperability problems with automated processes for handling the wafers. Accordingly, an improved substrate container for handling thin substrates is desirable.